Athletes who participate in sports at any level, amateur or professional, strive to bring their bodies to a physical state which is optimum for the sport or activity of interest. One factor which enables athletes to participate effectively is a high degree of development of the aerobic capacity and/or strength of skeletal muscle.
Both aerobic capacity and strength, especially the latter, is a function of training and of muscle mass. These in turn require net synthesis of proteins in the muscle. Strenuous exercise is an effective stimulus for protein synthesis. However, muscles require a large array of nutrients, including amino acids (which are derived from protein) for protein synthesis. These nutrient substrate have been supplied by ingesting diets which provide the necessary amounts of protein, calories, and other nutrients.
The desire to attain, in a rapid manner, the maximum degree of skeletal muscle adaption to exercise has led some athletes to resort to the use of drugs. Such drugs, particularly steroids, are known to “force” muscle growth (protein synthesis) to degrees greater than can be achieved by exercise and diet alone. The use of such drugs is both illegal and dangerous. The use of steroids causes the body to be in a constant anabolic state. The side effects of steroids are dangerous and unacceptable.
Thus, it is desirable to apply training programs which employ a combination of specific exercise technique and a diet without steroids which will enhance the stamina of the individual for exercise, enhance the body mass, and decrease fatigue. The present inventors have found that the use of betaine or its physiologically acceptable salt achieves these objectives plus, in addition, has several advantages.
Betaine is widely distributed in plants and animals, and is a natural component of many foods, including cereals (e.g., wheat, oat), seafood (e.g., shrimp, salmon) and vegetables (e.g., spinach, mushroom). It is also found in sugar beets. Also known as trimethylglycine, it has a molecular weight of 117.15 g/mole. Together with L-glutamine, betaine forms the major component of nitrogen compounds in sugar beets that are soluble in water. Betaine has been known for over a hundred years; in 1866 for example, betaine was isolated from concentrated juices of Beta vulgaris (sugar beet).
Betaine has been used clinically for liver disease. Betaine has been found useful in other applications. For instance, it has been discovered that betaine plays an important role in life maintaining processes in nature. For example, various microorganisms depend upon betaine for their survival. Betaine is important for the control of respiration, osmoregulation, and nitrogen fixation of several useful bacteria. The function of useful microbes in soil that fix atmospheric nitrogen necessary for plants to grow is stimulated by betaine.
It has been found that betaine does not possess any skin irritating properties when used in cosmetics, improves the skin compatibility thereof and has moisturizing properties. Betaine has beneficial effects in toothpaste; it appears that betaine not only reduces the skin-irritating effects of toothpaste components, but also is useful for relieving the symptoms in patients with dry mouth.
Betaine is a lipotropic agent. It increases the level of beneficial SAMe (S-adenosyl-methionine) in the liver, and enables the liver to metabolize fat and protect against many challenges, such as alcohol induced cirrhosis. It also decreases bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase and several other liver enzymes related to a large variety of liver disorders. In addition, it appears to have a key role in protecting kidney cells against highly osmotic urine. Further, its biochemical derivative formed in the liver, dimethylglycine, is known to enhance immune response.
Although betaine has been known for over a century, no one heretofore has suggested or used betaine for the enhancement of an individual performance during exercise, that is, to enhance stamina to participate in exercising, especially strenuous exercise. The present inventors have found that the administration of betaine or its physiologically acceptable salts promotes muscle adaption to strenuous exercise.